Transmission



July 3, 192s. 1 1,675,538

T.. L. FAWCK TRANSMI S S ION Filed Dec. 11, 1925 :s sheets-sheet 2` T. L. FAWICK July 3, 1928.

TRANSMISSION Filed Dec. l1, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet y3 MMF Patented July 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES THOMAS L. FAWICK, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN.

TRANSMISSION.

Application led December The present invention relates to a novel transmission to be used preferably, but not necessarily, in series with known, accelerating and reverse transmissions to: provide a i change of driving ratio between the engine and the real; axle. This may be to secure either the so called under drive or over drive. The under drive is employed generally -to give greater pulling power, as for 3 example, in a truck'or bus.

` The principle of the so called over drive is well known. It has appeared in various forms, the most common being a change of, gear ratio at the rear axle. Another form is an extra set of gears known as step-up gears inthe usual transmission. The purpose, namely, economy and smoother engine operation, is also well known. p

Gears of known type on the rear axle are D out of the question, primarily because of their wei ht and remoteness from the point of control. The usual step-up gears in the 4transmission are 'noisy and lnelflcient and may take up too much room. 1 I provide, in accordance-with the resent invention, a set of gears ,of small diameter and of great'strengthfpr changin `the drive ratio from engine to rear axle. ye gears are in constant mesh and run very quletly.

According to my invention, I provideat the ends of a pair of shaft sections, which` are placed axially in line with each other, a pair of ,pinions of diierent diameters. About these-pinions I dispose a cage and in the cage mount preferably three lay shafts having` -pinions of 'different eiective diam-- eters to cooperate with the 'pinions on the -adjacent'shaft sections, which shaft sections are driving and driven shaft sections, respectively. This cage with its lay shaft and pinions is then clutched to the driving shaft section (or the driven shaft section, as the case may be), for one position of transmission and it isv clutched to a stationary' sup- They may be made with teeth slightly in- A 11, 1925. smal no. '14',s1s.

port for another driving position. rally, between these two driving positions there is a neutral position but I do not, in the present embodiment, make any particular use of the same. v

Due to' the aforesaid construction, the two Natu-l shafts may be piloted in each other.- Duel to the use of three vor more la shafts'and pmions, the load is balance and reat strength is secured yfrom even relatively narrow faced pinions. .By varying the effective diameters of these gears any selected driving ratio within limits may be secured. y

the art with the manner of constructing and operating a device inv accordance with my invention, I shall describe, in connection with the accornpan ing drawings, a specific embodiment of. t esame.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a' on 'tudinal vertical section of a device embo ing my invention ang shown as connecte between a nal driv shaft of the usual Ford transmission and the forward end of the propeller shaft ofthe usual Ford automobile; n

Fig.y 2 isa rear elevation view of the same;

` Fig. 3 is a rear end viewof the-same;

Fig.' 4 is a sectlon taken on the line 4 4 of Flgure 1;

Fig. 5 is va longitudinal vertical section of a modification in whichthe transmision of my invention is connected between the engine shaft and the usual sliding gear transmission Fig. 6 isa fragmentary secti'on through the shifter-fork and connected parts, and

Fig. 7 is' a fragmentary cross -sectional viewv through the cage taken on line 2'( of Fig. 1 showing the location of lthe three lay shafts and the clutch bars. J

Referring nowe to' F' ure 1, the sha-itl,

which is.a"hollow sha is the lual drive shaft yof the usual Ford accelerating and reveise planetary transmission, which is housed in the housing v2 and which I have 2 and which also meshes with the end ofnot shown for the sake of clearness, the construction of the Ford transmission being well known to those skilled in they art.

The forward end of the short tube 3 of the usual Ford construction terminates in a spherical casing 4 which together with the retaining ring 5 and propeller shaft 6 are all parts of the Ford engine as now constructed. The propeller shaft 6 is connected to a universal joint 7, one element 8 being shown and another element which is connected to the propeller shaft 6 being omitted for the sake of clearness. The hollow engine shaft 1 has a squared socket 9 which normally receives the forward squared stud 10 of the universal joint part member 8, said member 8 with its stud 10 being part of the original Ford equipment.

' I rovide at 11 a bearin and clutch member aving a flange 12 w ich fits with the flange 13 on the Ford transmission housing the gear case housing 14 of my invention. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the retaining ring 5, the housing 14, and the flange 12 are all secured to the flange 13 of the Ford housing 2 by four longitudinal bolts 15 which fit in suitable lugs in the flange 13.

The housing 14 has its forward end piloted on a shoulder 16 formed on the flange 12 of the clutch and bearing member 11. The clutch and bearing member 11 has a forward tubular extension 17 in which is received the Hyatt roller bearings 18, the end of said tubular extension being flanged inwardly as indicated at 2O to retain the bearings 18 and a retaining ring' 19 being seated in the inside of the tubular extension 17 as indicated at 19. y

The member 11 has a series, preferably six recesses 21 which form clutch sockets for receiving thev ends of a series of three clutch bars 22 which are connected to a shiftable cage or ring 23 by suitable screws 24, as shown in Figure .1. The cage 23 comprises the ring portion 40 and fingers extending therefrom connected to the individual bars 22.

Now, the clutch socket 2l extends far enough to receive the clutch bars 22 and in fact the may be milled or cut quite through the wal of the member 11, so as to rovide sufficiently large bearings or shoul ers for engaging said bars. Between the clutch socket 21 the metal of the body V11 is left standin the full thickne of the plate or body with the exception of alternate clutch portions indicated at 25, (see Figures 1 and.

4), where the intervening metal 1s cut down to substantially half the depth of the 'clutch socket in order to assist the clutch bars 22 1n proceeding into the socket 21, as will be exp ained more in detail later. The operating lever 27 having a. knob 28 at the upper end is pivoted on a horizontal shaft 29,

rod 34 bears a shifter fork 40, as shown in V Figure. This shifter fork 40 embraces a groove 41 formed in a ring-like portion 42 of the shifter frame 23. The fork 4Ol1as an integral hub 43 secured b suitable set screw 44 and lock nut 45 to t e plunger or shifter rod 34. The hub member 43 has an integral hump or cam 46 which is adapted to be engaged by a corresponding wedge or cam-shaped end 47 of the spring plunger 38.

Between the drivin shaft 1 and the driven shaft member 10,(l provide two sections 50 and 51 which, in Figure 1, are continuations or sections of the driving shaft and driven shaft, respectively. The member 50 has a squared stud 52 fittin into the squared socket 9, previously descri ed, and it has a round cylindrical bearing portion back of the stud 52 which fits in a bearing sleeve 53 formed in a suitable bearing portion 54 of the pinion and clutch cage 55. Back of the bearing portion, the shaft sect-ion 50 has an integral pinion'56. Back of the pinion, there is a reduced portion or stud 57, which is piloted into a bearing portion 58 formed in the driven shaft section 51. A suitable bearing liner embraces said bearing stud portion 58, there 57. Back of the bearing is a clutch flange 59 whic preferably has six notches 60 formed like the notches 2l in the member 11. Alternate solid portions between notches being cut down or reduced in thickness, as indicated at 62 in Figure 1.

Back of said clutch flange 59 is the driven shaft section 51 which has a reduced portion having an internal squared socket 62 for receiving the squared stud end of the uni.

er'so" as to prevent the esc-ape of lubricant from the interior of the casin 14. This housing14 is charge able liquid or semi-liquid lubricant through a filling plug 67.V A draining plug 68 is formed inthe bottom wall of said housing.

The clutch and pinion cage 55 has a bearing ring 70 preferably formed of bronze Seor housing with a suitf -cured to the rear end thereof, this bearing ring 70 bearing externally upon a portion of the driven shaft section 51. A driven gear 72 is formed upon'the forward end of .the driven section 51.

A series of three layl shafts 73 with integral gears 74 and 75 is disposed in the clutch and pinion cage 55 and these lay -shafts have their forward ends in suitable bronze bushings 76 supported in the forward wall of the cage member 55, and at their rear ends, these layshafts and gears have bearings 'in the bearing ring 70. The bearing ring70 has openings 1n line withthe square clutch bars 22 so as to permit the rear ends of said-clutch bars to lie therein and to assist in holding the two parts, namely, the main calge 55 and the sup lemental ring 70 to be eld rigidly toget er. The clutch bars 22 being all connected through the ring 42 to the shifter fork 40 are moved in unison, under the snap action aforesaid.

V22 are kclutched to the stationary member 11, motion is transmitted from said drivin l pinion 56 through the three lay yshafts 73 with their connected gears and back to the driven pinion 72 and to the propeller shaft 6. In this case, the ratio of engine to propeller shaft speed is as 1.425 is to one.

When it is desired to drive at one to one ratio between the shafts 1 and 6, the lever 27 is pushed forward, clutch bars 22 vthen being snapped over bythe cam'hub 46, the

rear ends of the bars 22 dropping into the depression 62 and shortly thereafter dropping into the clutch recesses 60. The depressions 62'l in said clutch flange 59 makes 1t easier for the ends of the clutch bars to drop into position where they will eventually rest in the clutch recesses and be held against motion in either direction and permits suicient additional motion to -permit the cam hub 46 from the shifter fork' 40 to passbythe point of the spring member 33. The saine thing is true at thev opposite end in regard .to the depressed portions 25 of the clutch notches 21 in the member 11.

When it is desired'to drive at a one to one ratio, the cage 55 with its companion ring 50 and the lay shafts and gears are all clutched to the driven member through the shifter bars 22.

The meshing gears preferabl have their teeth inclined with respect to tile l tudinal axis, that is, they are slightly. elical so esto increase the Qquietness and strength of the gears and to,A ive. the well known herring bone effect. sections 50 and 51 in close end to end enp gagement.

he cross frame member .80 forming a part of the Ford chassis and a brake shaft 81 forming a part of the brake structure,

his keeps the shaft as shown, form no part of my invention andv l theiry illustration in the present invention serves only to show that the device of my invention may be installed without conflict- 'ing with existing requirements.

In Figure 5, I have shown a transmission of my lnvention which goes between the driving shaft 82 which is connected to the motor and the driven shaft section 83 which bears a 4pinion 84 of the usual sliding gear transmission 85. The driving shaft section 82 has a flanged end 86 which is adapted to lbe connectedto the clutch member of the engine. This shaft section 82 is supported in the ball bearings 63 mounted between the races 62 and 64. Thefinner race 62v is supported upon the shaft section 82 and the outer race 64 is mounted in a wall 87 formed at the junction of the bell housing 88 with the housing 14. Obviously, these two parts may be made separately. The driving shaft section has the clutch flange 89 havlng the clutch recesses 60, as described in the previous embodiment, that is, preferably six such recesses with partial .depressions between pairs to assist in easier `meshing of the clutch bars 22 with the sockets 60. At the op osite lends of the housing 14, flange 90 is olted tothe flange 12 of the stationary clutch disc memberl 91 and to the flange 92 of the main accelerating and reverse transmission 85. The driving shaft section 82 has thevdriving gear 93 with, foran example, nineteen teeth meshing with the gear 94 on the lay-shaft 95, said ear 94, having, for example, fifteen teeth. he lay-shaft 95 has driving r gear 96 with, for example, eighteen teeth meshing with the pinion 97 having, for example, sixteen teeth. The driving shaft section 82 has a central bearing recess 98 into which is piloted the bearingstud 99 of thedriven shaft section 83 -a suitable bearing liner being, introduce between them. v

The driven shaft section 83 has a ground bearing portion 100 located within the length of the cage 55 and a suitable bearing liner 101 is positioned in the end of the ca e member `55.

l UU

lli

he rear end of the driven shaft section 83 is-supported in a ball bearin 102 mountedl in the forward wall 103 of t e transmission 85. The structure of the transmission 85 is otherwise standard, that is, of a type well known in the art and it comprises a driven shaft'section 104 axially in line with the shaft section 83which, for the urposes of the transmission e5, is a driving s ft secadjacent part of the shaft section 83, as indicated at 112. The housing 109 contains a lay-shaft 113 upon which is a tubular gear structure comprising the low speed gear 115 meshing with the pinion 84 and companion gear 116 adapted to mesh with the ygear 105 for driving the shaft section 104: at low speed. The compound gear member 114 also bears the gear 117 which cooperates with the sliding gear 110 for intermediate speed. It also bears the reverse driving pinion 118 which, operating through an idler, drives vthe sliding gear 105 for re.

verse direction of motion of the shaft section 104. For direct drive, the sliiftable gear 106-is moved forward to clutch the shaft sections 83 and 104 together "directly, The shiftable gears are suitably controlled by manually operable shifter handle or lever 120 pivoted in a ball or spherical joint 121 in the housing 122 which i-s formed on the cover of the main housing 109. n

The operation of a structure is believed to be apparent from the aforesaid description.

. 85 in the well known manner, that is, either through the accelerating and reverse gears or through direct drive to the rear axle.

' When it is desired to chan e the driving ratio bet-Ween the engine an the propeller shaft to drive the propeller shaft at a higher range of speed, that is at a higher rate, the shifter handle 22 is thrown to the front or right, as indicated in Figure 5, so that the.

drive proceeds through the gears, the cage and its connecting bearing ring 70 being held stationary. The gears on the ,three layshafts and on the driving and driven sec-4 tions may be made with inclined teeth to secure quietness and strenfgth, as explained in connection with the rst embodiment. The advantage of placing the drive of my invention in advance of the usual accelerating and reverse gear transmission is that the transmission of m invention is thereby subjected to no more an en e torque and hence may be made small an compact. Due to the use of three lay-shafts and the fact that thegears arall 'in constant mesh, the

transmission is surprisingly quiet and, in fact, during normal operation can not be heard. The structure is inexpensive and due to the smallness of the parts may readily be manufactured and is easily installed.

In the embodiment of Figure 1, the transmission is shown as a reduction, it being assumed that the gear ratio at the rear axle is too high for the ordinary rangesof speeds and the ratio is proper for higher speed.

Quite obviously, the ratio may be reversed if it is desired to drive at a higher speed when the gears of my invention are in operation. That is one of the features of the present invention which is of importance, namely, that with very small changes in structures, either an underdrive or an overdrive may readily be secured.l All that is required is to change the pinions on the driving and driven sections and then the lay-shaft may be reversed, if desired, or at the most, the lay-shaft with its gears may be modified accordingly.

I do not .intend to be limited to the details shown or described, nor to the specific location of the transmission of my invention.

I claim 1. In combination, a housing having an integral end wall, a bearing in said end Wall, a removable end wall for the open end of the housing, a bearing in said second end Wall, a pair of shaft sections mounted in said bearings and piloted axially in alignment with. each other, a cage surrounding the ends of said shaft sections and having bearings thereupon, pinions of differentI diameters on the adjacent ends of the shaft sections, a series of lay-shafts having connected meshing Wlth said pinions, a series of c utch bars disposed in the cage substantially parallel with said lay-shaft, a collar for shifting said clutch bars, means for clutching said bars at one end to the housing and means. for clutching said bars at the opposite end to one of said shaft sections.

2. In combination,' a housin having an end wall, a bearing in said en wall, a removable plate or the other end of the housing, said plate having a bearing and la' series of clutch Jaws, a driving shaft section in one of said bearings, a driven shaft section in the other bearing, said shaft sections having a pilot bearing for holding, them in alignment, pinions on the adjacent ends of the shaft sections, a cage having bearings on the shaft sections, said cage bein split, a series of lay-shafts having integra pinions meshing with the aforesaid pinions, said lay-- shafts being mounted in said cage, one of said shaft sections havin a plurality of ears noA

clutch jaws, and shiftab e clutch means mounted on the cage for selectively clutch-i' ing either set of jaws.

. l3. In combination, a cage member having `bearings surrounding the same, a plurality of lay-shafts having connected gears., said shafts being disposed in the outer bearings of the cage and of the end plate, said cage and end plate having a series oflon itudinal openings therethrough, and clutch ars disposed in said -longitudinal openin s, said clutch bars having clutching shoulgders at each end.

. 4. In combination, a cage member havinga central bearing and a series of bearings surrounding the same, an end plate for the cage having a central bearing and a series f bearings surrounding the same, a plurality of lay-shafts havin -connected gears, said shafts being dis ose in the outer bearings of thei ca e and o the end late, said cage and en openlngstherethrough, clutch bars disposed in said longitudinal openings and a clutch collar havi a. series of fingers connected to said cltc bars.

-5. In combination, la driving element, aV

driven element, gearing lfor connecting the elements, a cage associated with the .gearing and the elements, a relatively fixed member,

means comprising rods slidabl mounted in i the cage and being capable of being projected out of either end of the cage for clutching one end of said cage to saidimember and means for 4clutching the otherend of said cage to one of said twoelements.

6. Incombination, a first shaft, a second shaft, a relatively stationary clutch member,

.a clutch member connected to one of said shafts, pinions on the shafts, a gear cage naled in the cage and meshing with said f otherpinions, and slidable clutch elements carried by the cage and adapted to project p ate having a series of longitudinal from either end of the the clutch members.

7. In a transmission, the combination of cage to engage one of a pair of shafts having sun ears, a cage emi plate adjacent one end of the cage, a clutch y plate on one of the shafts at the other end of the cage, said 'clutch plates havin clutch shoulders, clutch rods carried in t e cage, said rods having shoulders at opposite ends of' the cage for :selectively engaging the clutch shoulders of the clutch pates, and a shifter ringlying peripherally outside the rods and connected thereto.- 7 4 i v 8. In combination, a drive shaft having a sun pinion on its inner end, a driven member comprising a sun gear of larger diameter than the .sun pinion, a cylindrical bearing portion on said driven member adjacent the sun gear, said driving shaft being piloted linto the driven-member, a cage having an inhaving another 'end' portion bearing upon said cylindrical bearing portion on thev driven member, a planet' 'ear and a connect- I ed planet pinion journa ed in the cage and meshingl with said sun. pinion and sun gear "respectively, the driven memberhaving an integral clutch plate adjacent to the cylin- .drical bearing portion, a stationary clutch plate atv the other end of the cage, .and

clutch bars carried in the cage and 'projecti-` ble from the opposite ends vthereof selective ly intoengagementl lwith said 'first -or lsaid lsecond clutch plate. associated with the pinions, pinions jour'- A THOMAS L. FaWioK.l i 

